Struggling With Feelings
by Justin T. Melanson
Summary: Athena seems to have finally given up the chase on Kyo, and keeps telling herself that she sees Kensou as just a friend, however, Kensou is not one to give up so easily, will his persistance pay off? Read and find out.
1. Giving Up the Chase

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: I have had this idea brewing in my head for a long period of time, I am hoping that I can pull this story off with believability, I'm not going to give away all the details of what is gonna happen, but I'll only say this, there will be a coupling in the story, and one that I am a fan of._

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 1: Giving Up the Chase

It all begins on one fateful winter's day, school was officially over for that particular day, and on the way home, Athena and her friend Sanae are having a serious conversation.

"Sanae, I've come to realize that I don't think I have a chance in hell with Kyo," said Athena to her friend.

"I never thought I'd see the day," said Sanae with a small laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Athena, slightly annoyed with her friend's laughter.

To which Sanae responded, "Oh nothing, it's just, you had a crush on him for the longest time, ever since you participated in that King of Fighters tournament and crossed eyes with him."

Sanae summed up Athena's feelings quite accurately, ever since Athena had met Kyo, and had been impressed with his fighting skills and dashing good looks, she had been hopelessly smitten. However, she realized that Kyo had a girlfriend, Yuki, and it looked like they were not breaking up anytime in a million years.

"You're right Sanae, ugh, and to top it all off, I have a very persistent Kensou after me," said Athena with a sigh, "It is getting very annoying." she added.

"Well, you know, Kensou is not a bad guy, immature yes, but not a bad guy." affirmed Sanae.

"Well then, why don't you date him Sanae?" asked Athena, this prompted a laugh from Sanae.

"Oh Athena, you're too much," she said while laughing, "I might like Kensou as a friend, but I don't like him in that way at all. Seriously Athena, that boy is smitten with you."

As the two of them turned left at the intersection and on to the street where both of them lived, a car drove by, and in the passengers seat was Kensou, upon seeing Athena, he waved at her, which caused Athena to blush.

"See what I mean?" asked Sanae, smiling as she confirmed her suspicions.

"Yes, I see what you mean," said Athena, nodding in agreement.

They came to Sanae's house first, and after saying goodbye, Athena walked the rest of the way to her house alone. Upon going inside, she realized that no one was home, and used the opportunity to grab a snack from the kitchen. Afterward, she went upstairs, and tried to start her homework, but it was completely in vain, she simply could not focus when her thoughts were elsewhere...


	2. Old Friends Talking

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: Sorry for the short introduction, I just felt it appropriate to end it on a cliffhanger is all. I have decided to have the perspectives switch in each chapter from the POV's of Athena and Kensou, that way you all get both sides of the story, and hopefully it ends up working. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 2: Old Friends Talking

That same day, Kensou was also on his way home, however, unlike Athena, he wasn't walking, he was being driven instead. While he didn't show his emotions when he waved at Athena on the way by, inside he was not feeling quite like his usual, happy self. Sadly, he sighed to himself as his old friend Robert Garcia, drove them home, his thoughts drifted from when he passed Athena earlier, he had noticed her blush a bit before she completely disappeared from sight.

Robert, sensing that his friend was sad, decided to try and talk to him.

"Is there something the matter, Kensou?" he asked inqusitively.

"No, it's nothing," said Kensou with a sigh.

"Oh don't give me that," said Robert with a slightly stern tone, "I can read you like a book, it's that Athena girl, isn't it?"

"How the hell did you know that?" asked Kensou, surprised, Robert laughed.

"Come now Kensou, we've been friends for a long time, I see the starry-eyed look you give her every time we pass her on the way to Chin's place." he said.

"Oh, right, that," said Kensou, "Yeah, you do know me well, and also know of my long time crush on Athena too."

"Mmmhmm, I know that feeling, I've been in love with Yuri since I laid eyes on her myself." Robert said in an empathetic tone.

"Yeah," Kensou nodded in agreement, "I guess we're both doomed to never be with the ones we love huh?"

"You got that right kid," said Robert, "Come on, let's go get a soda and talk."

"Good idea," said Kensou.

Robert then spotted a local variety store that was right around the bend from the place where Chin, Bao and Kensou resided, though Bao was absent on account of Chin sending him to China to go train and hone his powers again, his schooling also came with the package as well.

He then pulled up and got out of his car, Kensou joined him. The two went inside the small store, and immediately went over to the soda coolers. They picked out their favorite brand, and Robert paid the proprietor. They then got out and sat on a nearby bench, which amazingly was not caked with ice or snow and opened up.

"So tell me, what exactly were you thinking?" asked Robert as he took a sip of his soda.

"Honestly, I don't know," said Kensou as he took a swig of his own, "I love Athena, but at the same time, am I pursuing a lost cause? Seriously, I've been trying to get her to give me a chance for years, I feel ready to give up."

"Nah, don't say that," said Robert as he took another swig of his soda, "Trust me on this one, your persistence will pay off. I get this feeling it'll be any day now that she comes around."

"Wait, how can you tell?" asked Kensou as he chugged more soda down..

"Instinct," said Robert affirmatively, "Just trust me on this one."

"Okay," said Kensou as he finished his soda off.

"You'll thank me later for this," said Robert as he finished his soda off, "Ahh, anyway, let's get you home, don't want Chin getting worried."

With that, Robert went and started the car, and Kensou hopped in immediately afterward. Less than five minutes later, Kensou was home, and upon entering, rushed to his room and while he thought about doing his homework, he decided it could wait, he hopped onto his bed, closed his eyes, and let his thoughts drift elsewhere for a while...


	3. Heart to Heart With Mom

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: OK, now it's back to Athena's POV for this chapter, I believe this style of storytelling actually works. I hope you'll all like this fanfic, and continue to support me. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 3: Heart to Heart With Mom

Athena decided that perhaps she better rest on this for now, it seemed it would be a bad idea for her to try to work on her homework when her thoughts were elsewhere. She climbed on to her bed, closed her eyes, and let her mind wander.

She thought of many things, including of her crush on Kyo that she had decided to give up on, and about what her friend said to her about Kensou. Sanae was right, he's not a bad guy, and he had been smitten with her since day one. A part of her asked why it was that she never reciprocated these feelings, and furthermore, what if she did date him, but it didn't work out? Then she'd probably end up losing her best friend or worse yet, the Psycho Soldiers would most likely break up.

These thoughts continued to weigh heavy on her, even after she awoke. However, she realized she had to get her work done, or it was not gonna get done. Finally, she took out her pencil and began, doing her best to get through any difficult problems she was having.

After what seemed like an eternity, she finished her last assignment just as her mom, Haruna, walked in the door. She immediately rushed down to greet her as she entered, the woman was an image of what Athena would look like if she were older, but she still looked youthful despite her age.

"Hey mom," said Athena as she gave her a hug.

"Hey Athena," said her mom as she returned the embrace, "How are you? Did you get your homework done?"

"I'm fine mom, and yes, I got my homework done, right before you got in even," said Athena with a sigh.

Haruna, however, seemed to sense otherwise, she was no fool, and she knew her daughter like the back of her hand, she could however, she decided to let it be for now, besides, she needed help getting the food she just bought into the house.

"Alright," she said, "Athena, could you be a dear, and help me out with getting the groceries out of the car?"

"Sure thing mom," said Athena as she put her winter coat back on, and headed back out into the cold in order to get a couple bags from her mom's car. It took her mere seconds to bring a couple bags in, and place them on the kitchen counter, she then went and brought the rest in, and helped her mom put away the groceries.

Athena felt nervous about talking to her mom about these feelings she was having within, but she felt that if there was one person she could count on to be there, it had to be the woman who gave birth to her. She put her nervousness aside for a moment and finally spoke.

"Mom, when you get a second, can we talk?" she asked calmly, belying how nervous she really was.

"Of course dear, what is it?" her mom responded as she sat down on the couch in the living room across from the kitchen.

Athena grabbed herself a glass of water, and sat down in the love seat across from her mom, she spoke calmly "OK, mom, this isn't easy for me to talk about, but I feel the one person I can talk to about this matter is you."

"You know I'm listening," said her mom as she turned to face her daughter.

"Alright, first off, I had a crush on this one guy in my school for the longest time..." Athena told in detail to her mom about everything, her ex-crush Kyo, how her best friend Kensou had been in love with her for the longest time, and the struggling feelings that were going on inside of her regarding Kensou. Her mom, being a patient woman, listened to the entire thing.

"...so, to sum it up, I'm asking a question, what the hell is happening to me?" asked Athena, in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Athena, come here, and I'll tell you about my experiences..." said her mom as she motioned her over to the couch

Athena gladly obliged as her mom began to tell her the story of how she came to meet the man that would become Athena's dad...


	4. Inside Kensou's Mind

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: So does this switching between the POVs of the characters actually work? I hope so, to me, this creates more suspense in the story. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 4: Inside Kensou's Mind

While napping, Kensou thought about many things, his love for Athena being the one constant, he wondered what if she finally said yes, what would dating her be like? Furthermore would he get sick of her after a while? What if it didn't work out? What then? Would the Psycho Soldiers end up breaking apart? Or would their friendship weather out a stormy break-up?

The dreaming would've continued more had he not been awakened by the opening of his bedroom door.

"Kensou? Oh! I didn't realize you were home." said Chin with a small laugh.

"Hey Chin," said Kensou as he stretched his arms, yawned, and rubbed his eyes.

"Kensou, don't you have homework you should be doing?" inquired Chin.

"Oh, right, I'll get to it, just gimme a few minutes." Kensou replied.

"Alright," said Chin with a firm tone, "But no video games or any of that other fun stuff you like if you don't get it done."

"Fine..." said Kensou as he got up, went to the desk next to his bed, and finally began his homework.

Amazingly, it didn't take him five hours to completely finish his assignments, most of them were easy, and ever since Chin took him in when he was an orphan, his work ethic improved significantly. After an hour and a half or so, he finally finished everything.

Upon doing so, he went downstairs, where Chin had dinner waiting, a simple dish he prepared of Kensou's favorite, pork buns, lo mein noodles and stir-fried vegetables.

"Dig in," said Chin.

Kensou was only too willing to oblige, he dove right in to the pork buns, and mixed the vegetables and noodles. After he and Chin got done eating dinner, and filling their bellies, he helped Chin clean and put away the dishes, which according to Chin, was something unusual.

"Hmmm...Kensou, is something on your mind?" asked Chin

"Huh? Why would you ask that?" Kensou asked, curious about what Chin just asked.

"Well, you're not acting like your usual self Kensou, you actually helped with the dishes, usually I have to do that myself" Chin replied, "I can tell when something is up. Now come on, out with it."

"Alright, you got me," said an exasperated Kensou, "I've been thinking a lot about a girl I've loved for a long time."

"Hmmm...that girl wouldn't happen to be Athena, would it?" asked Chin.

"You got it right," said Kensou, then paused and thought for a second, "But then again, you knew the entire time, didn't you?"

"I sure did," said Chin with a laugh, "Then again, you're an easy mind to read. Ahhh, you were thinking of what would happen if she said yes, weren't you?"

Kensou was shocked, apparently Chin really did manage to read him like a book, he could not think of any sort of retort whatsoever.

"I love it when I leave you speechless," Chin said with a very enthusiastic laugh, and then cleared his throat, "Anyway, sorry Kensou, I'm calm now. Do tell."

"Alright, well...I'll admit, I've had a bunch of fears buried within me about that..."

Kensou continued to talk to Chin about his feelings, secret doubts and fears, and a couple other things, including the conversation he had earlier with his friend Robert.

"...Hmmmm, I see," said Chin as he pondered, "Perhaps Robert is right, I had tried telling you in the past to give up on her, but you know what? I've noticed a change in her myself the last two days, she seemed depressed about something..."

"Really? Maybe I should talk to her then?" asked Kensou with a hint of enthusasm in his voice.

"That might not be a bad idea...when you see her tomorrow, and if you feel the moment is right, yes," said Chin with a sigh, "Perhaps you can finally get her to open up to you finally..."


	5. Reminiscence of Love

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: Now it's time for Athena to learn about how her mom met her dad, something that she didn't even know about, at least from what I can gather anyway. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. However, I do own the original character, Haruna, who is Athena's mom in this case. _

Chapter 5: Reminiscence of Love

Athena sat next to her mom on the couch, and listened as her mom began to tell the tale of her father.

"Hiro was a childhood friend of mine, much like how Kensou has been one of your best friends for a long time, your father was my best friend too..."

Haruna then went into great detail about how she met Hiro when she thirteen, how she was getting harassed by another guy, and told him to back off.

"...oh Hiro actually tried to intervene on my behalf, however, this guy was dangerously strong. He ended up shoving him to the right side wall, knocking him unconscious, and tried to force himself on to me...a few seconds later, however, I hit the harasser in the groin with a well placed kick, he keeled over for a few, but then got back up and ran away from me like a plucked chicken."

Athena laughed at what her mom had said about the harasser, and thought that what her dad did was noble too, even if he didn't have the power to save her, he tried to, and that was enough.

"There's more though, when I made sure the coast was clear, I went right over to the guy who tried to rescue me, and made sure he was OK. He got up, rubbed his head, and I told him to wait there while I got some help for him."

Haruna continued on with the story, starting with what happened immediately after that fateful encounter, and ending with how she came to realize who it was that she wanted to be with.

"Oh for at least two years, he pursued me, I thought he would give up in that time frame, but he didn't, during that time, he seemed to grow a lot stronger as well in that time. I had a crush on another boy in school, but when I approached the guy, he had a girlfriend. Downtrodden, I didn't give up trying to pursue the guy, while your father kept on trying to pursue me. Finally, I gave up on the other guy after some long thinking, and actually started considering your father as a viable candidate."

"Were you scared at all mom?" asked Athena.

"Oh are you kidding me? I was terrified, over those two years, we became best friends. We talked about anything and everything, I certainly did not want to lose that. It's like you with Kensou. However, I finally accepted a date with Hiro, and truth be told, it was the best thing that happened to me. I ended up marrying him after college, and having a daughter, that child was you." Haruna ended the story with that.

"Wow...that is amazing...how come you never told me about this earlier?" asked Athena, "And do you think it would be the same with me and Kensou?"

"I can't answer that for you Athena, you must discover that for yourself, but I will tell you this, a road traveled with a friend is better than one traveled alone," said her mom with a gentle but firm tone.

"I see, that helps a lot mom, thank you so much!" said Athena as she gave her mom a hug.

"You're welcome," said her mom, "Now, how about some dinner huh?"

"Sounds good to me, I'm starved." said Athena as she headed to the kitchen.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's get cracking, your dad will be home in 45 minutes, and I want to have it ready by then." said Haruna as she loaded a platter up with some vegetables.

"Works for me," Athena said as she got out a knife and began chopping away.

The two of them continued to have a good talk while preparing dinner, and as time marched on, Athena felt she was one step closer to actually making a decision on whether or not to say yes to Kensou should he ask her out again. Amazingly, everything was set just as her dad walked in the door...


	6. Finding the Courage

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: Back to Kensou's POV for this chapter, this time he receives a phone call from his friend Robert, it seems he's alone in his ambition to make someone they love all theirs. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom and dad, whom will come into play in the next chapter. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 6: Finding the Courage

The hours seemed to drag on for Kensou, he decided thanks to Chin's encouraging speech that he was going to try again to ask Athena out, the question was, when? Tomorrow? The day after? He honestly wanted to make sure the timing was right. Much to his surprise, the phone rang, he picked it up before Chin could answer.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"Hey, it's Robert, what's up? How you feeling?" asked Robert.

"I'm feeling OK, me and Chin had a good talk tonight, and I've come to a decision." said Kensou firmly.

"I'm listening," said Robert.

"I'm gonna do it, I am gonna try once more to ask Athena out, I just need to do it when the time is right," said Kensou.

"Good man," said Robert affirmatively, "Word to the wise, the sooner you ask her, the better. I get this feeling that tomorrow will be your day."

"Huh? Why do you say that?" asked Kensou, curious by what Robert meant.

"Well, tomorrow is Friday, that's the day that I am going to pick you up so we can hang out, if you ask Athena out, I'll take you to wherever you like and let you have alone time with her," affirmed Robert.

That totally made sense, tomorrow was Friday, meaning that it would be a good day to do it, he just had to find the opportunity to do so, or better yet, have it present itself right in front of him. Regardless, he knew he just had to try one more time, if it didn't work this time though, he figured he might as well give up the chase, as it would be no use to pursue it anymore, it was now or never.

"Alright, I will give it a try tomorrow," said Kensou, "I hope she says yes..."

"I do too, for your sake," said Robert, "Tomorrow I intend to finally go for it with Yuri as well, wish me luck with this. Getting alone time with her is damn near impossible because of her overprotective father."

"Yeah, I heard all about that," said Kensou, "It seems we really are two peas in a pod, huh?"

"You got that right," said Robert with a chuckle, "Unlike you though, I know that Yuri would say yes, it's just getting the alone time with her that is the thing keeping me from being able to successfully ask her out. Tomorrow though, I think I got a break, her father and brother are out of town on business, leaving her and Goro to watch the dojo. It's perfect."

"I see, so your plan is to drop me and Athena off, that is, if she says yes, and then head over to the Sakazaki's dojo to ask Yuri out?" asked Kensou.

"Yep, that's the plan," said Robert, "Anyway, I gotta run, you should get some rest too. Take care."

"You too," said Kensou just as Robert hung up.

Kensou decided that Robert was right, he better turn in for the night, or he'd never get any sleep whatsoever. It was gonna be a long night for Kensou, and he knew it. However, the moment his head hit the pillow, he went right into the world of sleep and began to dream a little dream of Athena...


	7. Is it Yes, or is it No?

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: Now it's time for Athena to learn about how her mom met her dad, something that she didn't even know about, at least from what I can gather anyway. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. However, I do own the original character, Haruna, who is Athena's mom in this case, and Hiro, who is Athena's dad here, however, her parents will most likely be relegated to the backburner for the remainder of this story. _

Chapter 7: Is it Yes, or is it No

Athena and her parents had a good long talk at the dinner table about everything that was going on in her life, she was honest about it, and felt it was high time that she got it all off of her chest. Her dad, a serious person most of the time, didn't chastise her about dating, instead, he actually listened to her, and his wife when they had something to say, and remembered all the details about how he and Haruna came to be husband and wife, even backing up some of those claims of hers.

Her parents were supportive, they had met Kensou many times in the past, and actually liked him. Even though he had a tendency to be a little lazy at times, they could see he had a good heart and would do everything in his power to protect their daughter. To them, this was one of the most important characteristics they would look for in any guy who would be trying to get with her.

After dinner, Athena cleared the table, helped do the dishes, and went to her room to let everything sink in. Truthfully, she still had a fair amount on her mind as to whether or not she should really go for it with Kensou or not. Even though tonight's conversation with her folks helped a lot, she was still scared. However, she felt a desire to face the unknown, to see what could be in the future for her, and quite possibly Kensou too.

No less than 10 minutes passed when her phone rang, she had a feeling who it was, it had to be Sanae.

"Hello?" said Athena into the receiver.

"Hey Athena," her friend Sanae responded, "How are you? Everything OK?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," affirmed Athena, "I had a good talk with my folks about things, they actually told me something I didn't know."

"Oh? Like what?," asked Sanae, curious.

"For one, they were best friends like me and Kensou are, and like me, mom was resistant to him for the longest time, throughout high school even." said Athena.

"Really? Oh this is interesting, perhaps it's a sign?" asked Sanae again.

"Anything is a possibility," said Athena, "Right now, I am still on the fence about whether or not I should take a chance with Kensou or not."

"Athena, I think you'd be a fool not to," said Sanae in a firm tone, "Believe me when I say this, his loyalties are with you, and you alone. I would love it if I had someone who was like that with me."

"But, how do I know if it'll work out or not?" countered Athena, "What if it doesn't? What then?"

"Honestly, I can't answer that one for you," said Sanae, "But I believe in the saying that the quality of your life is directly proportional to the amount of discomfort you're willing to subject yourself to, to quote a man named Tony Robbins, whom my mom had me listen to when I was younger, I should give you some of his CDs, a lot of what he says makes sense."

That drove it home for Athena, Sanae had a point, and Athena herself knew it. She had no idea who this Tony Robbins person was, but the quote definitely rang a bell with her. She decided then and there that if Kensou asked her out again, she'd say yes.

"Sanae?" asked Athena.

"Yes?" Sanae asked back.

"When did you get so wise?" asked Athena with a laugh.

"Let's just say experience plays a role in this one," said Sanae with a hearty laugh, "Anyway, I hate to do this, but I must go."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," said Athena as she hung up.

Athena went downstairs and spent some time with her folks before she decided to call it a night, around 10 PM, she started feeling tired. She undid the covers, hopped in, and less than five minutes later, she was in dreamland dreaming about what could happen tomorrow...


	8. All or Nothing

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: This is it folks, Kensou is finally going to go for it. It's all or nothing. What is Athena going to say? I think most of you have already chanced a guess. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 8: All or Nothing

Kensou woke up the next morning when his alarm went off at 6 AM, he didn't even think of sleeping another second afterward. Immediately he got up, jumped in the shower, dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast, and left before Chin even woke up from his slumber. He turned on his CD player, put in a CD and started to jog towards the bus stop.

He didn't know why, but he felt really good today, maybe it was the weather, brisk and chill, just like a January morning should be. It felt good to him, this cold air. He continued the pace he was jogging at until he finally arrived at the stop, when he did, he smartly turned his CD player off, and put the CD back in it's case.

"Well...this is it..." he thought to himsef, "It's all or nothing...if she doesn't say yes today...I swear, I am not going to bother asking her again..."

The bus arrived shortly after, he got on, and took a seat.

"Now all I need to do is just get through this drudgery of a school day, and it'll all be over," Kensou thought to himself as the bus stopped at more places along the way, picking up other kids.

The seats were eventually filled to capacity before the bus driver finally stopped at school, Kensou got off with the rest of them, went passed the great, big stone pillars on the way in. He rushed inside to head to his home room, the now familiar sighting of the beige painted brick walls, a segment of which had the words painted in purple read "Carpe Diem", or "Seize the Day" in English, seemed to ring true with him now. When the school day was done, you bet he intended to seize the rest of the day.

Attendance was taken, and soon afterward, he was on his way to first period, he saw Athena in the hallway talking to her friend Sanae. However, that didn't stop her from noticing Kensou's appearance.

"Hey Kensou," said Athena as she waved before passing him.

Kensou waved back, but he couldn't say hi, it felt like cement got in his throat for a second.

"That's unusual," he thought to himself again, "Ah well, I'll have all the time in the world to talk to her after school...I hope..."

He arrived to his first period class on time and on purpose. Unusual for him, since usually he was late to that class, he immediately handed his assignment in to the teacher, whom showed that she was impressed with him for doing as such. First period flew right into second period, which flew right in to the rest of the day. It was amazing how quickly the day passed.

Upon realizing that his time to talk to Athena before she left was running out, Kensou rushed as quickly as he could to the entryway of the school. Upon arriving, he was swarmed by other kids, and was panicking as he tried to get a bearing on where Athena was. Much to his surprise, she was leaning against one of the stone pillars, as if she was waiting for him.

His heart started beating rapidly, and he began sweating a little as he approached her, waiting for the other kids to clear out of the way so he could make his way to her at long last. Finally, she moved away from the pillar, and when he was finally standing next to her, she gave him a quick hug.

"Hey again Kensou," said Athena as she pulled back from the hug.

"Hey Athena, I'm sorry I didn't say hello earlier," said Kensou, "I was in such a rush to get to first period."

"Yeah, I understand," said Athena, "And it's OK." she smiled at him, which made him weak in the knees.

"Uhm, yeah, eh heh heh," said an obviously nervous Kensou, it was all he could muster.

"Are you OK?" asked Athena, worried.

"Y-yes, I'm fine, i-it's just..." Kensou continued in his nervous tone, "There's something I've been wanting to ask you..."

"Oh? What is it Kensou?" asked Athena, half expecting what he was gonna do next.

"Athena...w-w-will you be my girl?" asked a nervous Kensou, as he braced himself for rejection.

"Yes," said Athena, not even surprised that he just asked her out. Apparently though, Kensou already had a speech prepared for when she said no, and was about to say it.

"It's OK, I under..." started Kensou, when he realized something, "W-wait a minute, did you just say yes?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

"I did," said Athena as she took his hand in hers.

"Oh...my...God! This can't be happening!" said an excited Kensou.

Athena just laughed, "Well believe it Kensou, it is."

Kensou then gently wrapped his hand around Athena's just as the last of the buses left, she put up no resistance to his touch whatsoever, which surprised him. Immediately after, Robert arrived and pulled up in his car. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, Athena and Kensou were holding hands.

"Robert! Robert! She said yes!" shouted an excited Kensou.

"Wonderful!" said an equally excited Robert.

He shut his car off temporarily, and got out.

"Congratulations you two!" he said as he hugged Athena and shook hands with Kensou.

"Thank you," said Athena, who went back to holding Kensou's hand after Robert hugged her.

"Ha ha, my pleasure," Robert said, "I never thought I'd see the day."

This caused the three of them to laugh heartily.

"Come on you two, I'll take you to wherever you want to go so you can have some alone time together," said Robert.

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Kensou, "Let's go! I believe the park nearby is perfect, and I just heard a new fusion restaurant opened up over near there"

"Fantastic, I'll take you over there right now," said Robert as he started his car up again.

Kensou and Athena hopped in the back of the car, and upon doing so, Kensou wrapped his left arm around her shoulder. Athena just sank in to his arm, looked up, and smiled at him, words didn't need to be said for the blissful high that both of them were feeling...


	9. Could This Be Love?

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: This is a small recap of things from Athena's POV, along with what happens after Chapter 8, again also from Athena's POV._

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom and dad. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 9: Could This Be Love?

Athena's day was not too much different from Kensou's before that moment happened. She too did her morning routine, getting up at 6 AM, showering, a quick breakfast and out the door. She also felt the same chill in the air on the way to the bus stop.

"Well, this is it..." she thought to herself, "I've been resisting for so long...I wonder how Kensou will react when I say yes...how will I react to him as well? Poor Kensou, he's been trying for the longest time to be with me, I would've thought he'd given up on me, but he never did..."

Her thoughts trailed on like this throughout the entire bus ride, the normally talkative Athena was silent for that amount of time.

However, her path differed slightly from Kensou's upon her entering, she didn't go anywhere near that segment of the hall that had "Carpe Diem" written in purple paint on it, but she did however, run into Kensou on the way to first period. She had a short conversation with Sanae before taking her place in class.

"Just remember Athena, wait at pillar by the entrance, I'm certain Kensou will notice you then..." Sanae whispered before they stepped in to their first period class.

First period through fourth period flew by, on her way to her fifth period class, she was stopped for a moment.

"Hey babe, wanna go out with me?" asked this completely random dude.

"No thanks!" she replied back harshly and kept going.

The guy tried to pursue, but it was no use, Athena just ignored him completely.

"That was close..." Athena thought to herself, "Dear God, I hope I don't get much more of that..."

Fortunately, the only other event of the day was her fifth period teacher yelling at her for being a few minutes late. In spite of that, no punishment was given The fifth period blew right by, and so did the rest of the day afterward.

"Finally...it's over," Athena thought to herself again, "Now, where do I go from here...? Oh right, one of the pillars by the entrance, I gotta wait for Kensou, I've not seen him all day save for on the way to my first period class."

She ran down the stairs to the outside entrance, chose the pillar to her left, and waited. The minutes felt like an eternity to her. Finally, Kensou showed up, and sure enough, he noticed her immediately and walked towards her.

She would be lying to herself if she said she was not feeling nervous, if anything, she was a wreck for those few seconds before Kensou approached her.

"Get yourself together Athena, remember, say yes...say yes..." she thought as Kensou approached, she hugged him when he got there, and relaxed a bit when she saw that he too was a nervous wreck. The poor guy practically stuttered his words really bad when he asked her out, it was so cute that she had to say yes.

"This is weird, why am I not freaking out here? If anything, I'm happy too..." Athena thought to herself again, "Seeing that excitement in his eyes..why didn't I do this sooner?" she smiled as he took her hand in his.

And when his friend Robert pulled up in his Ferrari, she had a feeling it was gonna get even better. After pleasantries were exchanged, and Kensou suggested that they head to the park, she wondered what was gonna happen.

So imagine her surprise when she felt relaxed, and actually let Kensou wrap his left arm around her when they got into Robert's car. She felt safe, comfortable even, much to her surprise. It was as if the stars were aligning or something.

When Robert finally pulled up to the park, Kensou eagerly grabbed her hand, and she gladly obliged by getting out as quickly as he did.

"Hey! I'll see you two back here in three hours! I'm off to the Kyokugenryu Dojo to finally ask Yuri out!" shouted Robert as he zoomed off.

Kensou laughed and wished Robert good luck, but he didn't know if Robert could hear him or not. His eyes then turned to Athena, who of course, standing right next to him.

"Athena?" he asked.

"Hmmm? What is it Kensou?" Athena replied.

"Thank you..." said Kensou in a relaxed and happy tone.

"For what?" she responded, curious by why he said that.

"You said yes to me," said Kensou with a genuine grin on his face, "I honestly was not expecting that...especially since you said no to me so many times."

"Well, let's just simply say I had a change of heart about you after I talked to my parents about everything last night..." said Athena, "But let's just leave it at that, and enjoy each other's company, OK?"

"Works for me," said Kensou as they walked briskly, hand in hand, and smiling.

They took in the scenery of the park along the way, it's simple yet elegant cobblestoned paths were well maintained, and kept clean on a regular basis. There were trees as far as the eye could see surrounding the area, and street lamps that shined brightly at night. However, what Athena didn't know is that Kensou actually had something in mind as he took her off the beaten path.

He showed her a dirt path that was well worn by others' feet, but it was still a place that she had never been, the path went for about 200 feet or so into the forested area, and opened up into a large grass field. Further in front was a beautiful lake that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, on the other side of it was another patch of forest, and hypnotic looking hills in the background. It offered a clear, panoramic view of the sky's horizon, it was beautiful to say the least, and Athena took in all of it's beauty.

"Kensou, this is beautiful!" said Athena in amazement.

"Ha ha, I always wanted to take you here," said Kensou as he smiled.

"Well why didn't you take me here sooner?" said Athena as she playfully nudged him.

"Because you kept saying no," said Kensou with a laugh as he spread out a blanket that he carried in his backpack, and sat down on the blanket.

He smiled as Athena joined him on the blanket, and wrapped his arm around her again. He pointed up to the sky, and made an observation, "I used to love coming here when I was younger, just so I could watch the setting sun. I figured you'd like to know that."

"Mmm, we might actually get to see the sun set right now," said Athena as she looked at the time, it was nearly 5 PM already.

Sure enough, 15 minutes later, the sun was starting to set, words couldn't describe the beauty of the sunsets different shades and hues of orange, with a purple haze surrounding the whole thing as the sun sank into the horizon.

"Kensou...I can't thank you enough for bringing me here...this place is beautiful..." Athena said softly to him.

"It was my pleasure Athena, I had a feeling you would love it," Kensou said with a smile.

Athena and Kensou both lay down beside each other on the blanket, and looked each other in the eye. Athena giggled as Kensou wrapped his arms around her, and moved in closer to him, she could feel both of their heartbeats quickening, as she moved in even closer to him and whispered "Kiss me" into his ear.

Kensou gladly obliged as their lips met, his tongue forced it's way into her mouth, and she responded in full as well, the both of them gasped for air before finally Athena pulled away, but looking into his eyes, she could see that he enjoyed it as much as she did, she had to give him credit, he was a great kisser..

"Wow...what has become of me?" she thought to herself again, "I said no for the longest time...yet here I am telling him to kiss me...Could this be? Am I falling in love with him? No...it can't be...but it feels so right...how could I have been so stupid...foolishly chasing Kyo, when I had this amazing guy right here who would practically die for me if he had to..."

The two of them lay there for quite some time while Athena wrestled with her own thoughts, she felt so confused about things now. Whom was just a best friend to her some hours ago, has become something more, much more at that, yet she was still scared that by letting him in to her heart, and her soul, that she might end up being destroyed and heartbroken if it didn't work out. Still, she did not want to ruin this tender moment between her and Kensou, so she laid with him and enjoyed his company.

Eventually, Kensou took her to the new fusion restaurant that he had heard about, they both loved what they ordered, and Kensou took care of the tab as well. Finally, it was time to head back and meet Robert. Imagine their surprise when he was not alone in his car, right beside him was Yuri Sakazaki...


	10. A Hard Decision

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: So it seems Athena might be falling hard for Kensou, truth be told though, she is scared out of her wit's end, I won't say what she does next though, I don't want to spoil the surprise, for that, you'll need to read to the end of this chapter._

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom and dad. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 10: A Hard Decision

"Robert, she said yes, huh?" asked Kensou as he and Athena hopped in.

"Ha ha, she sure did bro, but convincing her father of our love, oh man, that was like trying to pull teeth from an elephant!" said Robert emphatically.

The whole car burst into laughter after that.

"So how did you get him to give you the OK?" asked Kensou again.

"Actually, it was me who did the talking," Yuri interrupted, "I finally convinced my dad of how I felt about Robert, and he finally gave me the OK to spend some much-needed time with him."

She took Robert's hand in hers, and smiled.

"Mmmm, and what a wonderful time we had," said Robert with a grin, "Anyway, I'll take you two back home. Me and Yuri still got some time to catch up on."

So Robert dropped Athena off first, though not before Kensou took her to her door to say goodnight.

"I really had a great time Kensou," said Athena softly, "I thank you for that, and showing me what a great guy you are." as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"It was my pleasure Athena," said Kensou with a smile, "Maybe we can do it again next Friday huh? I'll call you sometime to find out what is going on."

"Maybe..." said Athena as Kensou walked off to the car, a twinge of doubt lingered in her voice.

Kensou was blissfully unaware as he hopped in and was given a ride home. When he got in, he immediately ran upstairs and he was in such a happy mood, he decided to clean his room, which was a total mess, he had all this happy energy building that he knew he was not gonna be able to just lay down and go to sleep.

So he went to work on sorting out his clothes, the clean stuff from the dirty and putting things in their proper place, all those CD cases laying on the floor were put into a seldom used organizer, books were replaced on the bookshelf, and all sorts of other knick-knacks were placed properly. Needless to say, his room actually had room to move around in for once. Finally, tired from all the cleaning, he curled up and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Athena was struggling with her feelings still, she thought this was gonna be easy, but in reality, this was harder than some of the hardest exams that she had ever faced. Now that Kensou had shown her another side to him that she had never seen before, she honestly didn't know what to think anymore.

Her head ached so bad that she had to go take an aspirin to calm the pain down. The ache in her heart, however, was much worse. She had never felt something like this regarding Kensou before, she had dated other guys before, but that was different, they weren't her best friend like Kensou was. In truth, she was scared to lose that, scared that Kensou would grow to hate her, and furthermore, scared that she'd lose her sanity and ultimately herself if she lost his friendship.

She continued struggling with these feelings, but she felt it was the right thing to do, tomorrow, she was probably going to commit the worst crime she had ever committed in her life, and she knew somehow that Kensou was going to be beyond heartbroken.

"Forgive me Kensou..." said Athena to herself, "I am so sorry...but I have to do this..."

A lone tear ran down her cheek, and hit the floor below. She buried her head beneath her pillow so no one could hear her crying. It was very seldom that Athena cried, whether they were tears of joy, or tears of sorrow. Still she wept softly until her pillow was soaked, and she finally went to sleep from exhaustion.

Morning came, and Athena barely had the strength to function, she knew the day was going to be hell, but still, she was making the right decision for herself, or was she?...


	11. Heartbreaker

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: The title of this chapter says it all. However, I can assure you it won't be the end of this fanfic, no sirree, I will say this though to sum it up, hearts are broken, friendships are strained, and curses are more than uttered here. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom and dad. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 11: Heartbreaker

Kensou was blissfully unaware of what was really going on with Athena when he arrived to school the day after, she seemed so happy to be with him the previous night, and he with her. However, he was smart, and didn't tell anyone what was going on. Still, he was in for a rude awakening when on his way to first period, Athena pulled him aside, and her friend Sanae was barely visible at the other end of the hallway, the crowd of students dissipated as much of them began to arrive to their first period classes.

"Kensou, we need to talk," said Athena gently.

Kensou studied Athena's gaze and look when she said those words, she looked utterly exhausted, her eyes were red and seemed to be swollen to boot, and he knew that somehow from the way Athena approached him, it was not gonna be good.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Kensou with a worried tone in his voice.

"Kensou...I can't do this...I'm sorry..." and with that Athena took off because she didn't want him to see any tears forming in her eyes.

Kensou was stunned, quite literally at a loss for words. Athena was his, but alas, it seemed like it was to only last that one night, he couldn't even speak. Feeling lost, confused, angry and sad at the same time was something new to him. He trudged on to first period, but from the lack of words from him, it seemed everyone could tell he was not fully there. A stranger that Kensou recognized but never talked to decided to ask him about the going-ons.

"Hey, you OK?" whispered this seemingly random stranger.

Kensou studied the guy, he had dark brown, almost black hair, was wearing a leather jacket, white headband, and a white t-shirt, he seemed to recognize him instantly as Kyo Kusanagi.

"I..think so..." said Kensou, a hint of sadness in his tone.

"Hmmm...judging by the tone of your voice, I'd say otherwise," said Kyo.

"I...don't want to talk about it right now, maybe after class or something," said Kensou with a sigh.

"Alright, fair enough," said Kyo coolly.

After first period ended, the both of them looked outside, and could not believe their eyes, a fierce argument was going on, and it looked like it could've broken into a fight at any time. A small crowd was already starting to gather round the two would be fighters.

"...You stupid bitch!" shouted Sanae in a fit of insanity at the top of her lungs, "How could you do that?! You had this great guy, and you fucking ditched him! WHY?!!"

"Sanae, you don't understand!" shouted Athena back in return, "This is all new to me, I'm fucking scared out of my wits end, and I don't know how to handle this! I need some time alone!"

Kensou and Kyo realized what was going on, and decided it was time to intervene. Kyo rushed into the middle of the melee, and pushed Athena aside, Athena merely slumped over against the lockers across from where Kyo stood afterward. Kyo approached Athena.

"You OK?" asked Kyo, concern in his voice.

"Yeah...thank you..." said Athena softly.

"What's with that crazy woman, huh?" asked Kyo.

"She's not crazy, she's right..." said Athena.

"I see...I'll leave you be then." said Kyo coolly, he left the scene without saying another word.

Meanwhile Kensou in a characteristic unlike himself pushed Sanae into a locker and began shouting at her at the top of his lungs.

"You leave her alone!" he shouted as he grabbed her shirt, "That!" he pointed at Athena's slumped form, "Is your best friend! You go to her right now and apologize!"

Kensou looked at Athena for a few seconds, she returned the gaze, and could see the sadness, longing, and loneliness in his eyes.

"Kensou..." she thought to herself, "Oh God...what have I done?..."

Kensou left the scene seconds later without saying another word, and Sanae, upon regaining her sanity apologized to Athena for her actions.

"Athena, it was a moment of insanity, please forgive me," Sanae begged.

"No Sanae, you were right..." said Athena softly to her, "I hold nothing against you..."

The two embraced, and were on their way to second period class. Still, both Athena and Kensou felt miserable that day, the rest of it was a blur for the most part, neither one talked to each other after the events that happened, for the pain was far too great...and after everyone went home when the school day was done, Athena merely wanted to curl up and die, her friend was right, she could've had a great thing going, and she messed it up, not only that, she messed it up big time...but could she undo the damage? Only time would tell...


	12. Aces High

"**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: Let's just say that after a break up, usually time with a friend and getting one's mind off of it for a while can usually do wonders. So in this chapter I actually had Kensou spend some time with Robert and Yuri, whom are now officially a couple._

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom and dad. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 12: Aces High

The next few days were a blur, Kensou just went through his daily routine of sleep, shower, school, homework, sleep again, and repeat the cycle. However, slowly but surely the pain started to fade from his heart. He began to move on, and even started talking to other girls around him in order to tread into new water. Though nothing really came of it, it still felt good to have some new friends to talk to.

Friday rolled around, which Kensou always looked forward to, it meant the weekend, meaning two days away from school to catch up, play video games, hang with friends and what have you. He already made plans with Robert, whom asked if he could bring Yuri along, to which Kensou said yes, he welcomed the company, and felt he could use it after the last few days he had.

The day progressed uneventfully until he got home, upon which, the phone rang.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver.

"Hey, what's going on kid?" asked Robert on the other end.

"Oh, hey Robert, not much, you?" said Kensou stoically.

"About the same," said Robert coolly, "Hey listen, I'll be up to get you around 5 or so, let's go for something to eat, and you can tell me everything about what happened. Yuri's still coming with me just so you know."

"Alright, sounds good to me," said Kensou, "I've got some quick homework to do, but I can get it done before you get here. I'll catch you around 5."

"Sure," said Robert, "I'll see you then." as he hung up, he turned to Yuri who was sitting beside him on the couch in his pad.

"Poor kid," he said to Yuri, "I never thought Athena would do that to him."

"Mmmm, well, perhaps she's scared," said Yuri, "I know I was when I first realized how I felt about you."

"Yeah, hm hm, just like I was nervous when I finally got the nerve to ask you out," said Robert as he took her hands in his, "I was so worried that your father would kill me."

"He wanted to," said Yuri with a laugh, "But fortunately I was able to calm him down, and talk to him about making my own decisions."

"Yeah, it was a good thing you did," said Robert, "Otherwise he would've tossed me through the meat grinder."

The both of them laughed and shared a kiss or two, and did a few things around the house before they finally went over to pick up Kensou, whom was eagerly awaiting their arrival right outside his house, as the car pulled up, Kensou immediately opened the passenger's side door, and hopped in the back seat.

"Boy am I ever glad to see you two!" exclaimed Kensou.

"Yeah, glad to see you as well," said Robert, "You seem to be in good spirits in spite of what happened."

"I'm not gonna deny it, it was a rough week," said Kensou, "But I'm fine, really, at least I think I am..."

"Hey, it's understandable if you're confused," affirmed Robert.

"Yeah, there must've been much more to her actions than meets the eye," Yuri piped in, "Something tells me that she's scared."

"Scared? Of what exactly? I don't get you," said Kensou.

"Scared that she might be falling for her best friend..." said Yuri, "Believe me, I've been there myself. I struggled for the longest time with my feelings for Rob. It was part of the reason why we didn't start going steady until just now."

"Makes sense..." said Kensou, "Perhaps you are right...still, I am gonna get myself out there and get to know more people. If Athena wants to be with me, she can come to me."

"Smart move kid," affirmed Robert, "Hey, after all the work you did, I think it's her turn now." he said with a laugh.

With that, Robert put the car in drive and they went out to Kensou's favorite arcade, played some video games for a while there, then headed back to Robert's pad where he cooked up a nice meal for all, and eventually played some cards.

"Alright, here's the rules, no wilds aside from jokers, and if we all have no special hands, the person with the highest card in their hand wins." affirmed Robert as he doled out the cards and the plastic chips for everyone to make makeshift bids on.

"I'll start by adding in my four to start," said Robert as he tossed four white chips into the pile.

"I'll see your four, and raise you two more," said Yuri as she tossed in a blue chip worth five white chips, and one white chip into the middle.

"Hmmm...I'll see your six, and add two more to that," said Kensou as he added a blue chip and three white chips to the pile.

"Alright, let's begin trading cards," said Robert.

The Poker games went on for about two hours straight, with which, a lot of laughter, disses, and bad jokes were exchanged. Needless to say, a surprise happened in the final game.

"I call," said Robert as he showed his hand, "King high."

"Queen high," said Yuri as she showed her hand, it was all bad cards, not a single pair or anything in sight.

"Aces high," said Kensou as he showed his hand.

"Damn, you win," said Robert.

Kensou then jokingly took all the chips that were in the pot, and jokingly tossed them in the air saying "YES! I'm rich! I'm rich!" while laughing.

The trio burst out laughing at Kensou's antics, and helped him pick up the chips after he was done with his mock celebration. Afterward, they bundled up in their jackets, and took Kensou home.

"Hey, let's do this again buddy, next weekend sound good?" asked Robert before Kensou hopped out.

"Sure, sounds good to me, I'll see you then!" said Kensou as he waved goodbye before stepping inside his house.

However, it was no more than an hour later, at approximately 10:03 PM that Friday night, that he heard the door knock, he wondered who it could be. Chin was already home, and most likely doing his own thing around the house, he slept all sorts of weird hours, and Bao was not due to be back for another five months, when he went to answer the door, he was in for a huge surprise...


	13. Going For Broke

**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: Athena realizes now that she royally messed up by dumping Kensou the way she did, can she find out how she truly feels? More importantly, can she tell him before it's too late?_

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom and dad. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 13: Going For Broke

While the last few days were going fine for Kensou, the same could not be said about Athena. Even though she patched up her friendship with Sanae, she still felt sad and lonely. Hardly anyone talked to her at school, and to top it all off, Kensou seemed to be doing just fine without her, even going as far as getting himself out there and meeting new faces.

Never in a million years did she think she'd be in this situation, that she could actually be falling for her best friend. It scared her out of her wits end, and it was partially because of those fears that she dumped him, thinking it'd somehow put them to rest. Alas, this was not the case, if anything it made the pain she felt within herself even worse.

She knew it was only a matter of time before she had to confront those fears, she couldn't keep running away forever. She pondered this and other questions for most of the remainder of the week, the one question that kept on entering into her mind was, did she love him in the same way he loved her? Her heart was saying yes, her mind was saying no at first, but something changed by the end of the week.

On Friday, after school was done, she talked to Sanae when they were dropped off at their bus stop.

"Sanae, you were right," said Athena, "I can't believe how stupid I was, it took me all this time to realize this, but I do love him..."

"Athena, I am glad to hear you say that," said Sanae to her friend, "I knew you did in your heart, it was your mind that was playing tricks on you, you were scared to fall in love, especially with the person who is your best friend."

"Yeah," sighed Athena, practically admitting defeat, "It's because I was scared of what would happen if it DIDN'T work out. I'd lose my best friend for crying out loud, and that scares me..."

"Don't be scared Athena," said Sanae, "Listen to your heart for once, and not your mind."

Athena let this message sink into her, "Listen to your heart not your mind" she kept saying to herself over and over.

"You're right," said Athena, "Tonight then, I've got to talk to him..."

"Do it to it," said Sanae in a supportive tone, "I wish you all the luck."

Sanae's house was dead ahead in their sights, alas, for now it was time for them to say goodbye. They embraced for a couple seconds before Sanae went inside. Athena immediately took off for her own house, which was just a few houses over from Sanae's, she figured she could meet up with her again after dinner to discuss a plan of action.

When she got home, the first thing she did was head to her room, unload her knapsack off her back, and downstairs quickly to help her mom with dinner. Fortunately, she didn't need to do much, and before she knew it, dinner was on the table. While eating, she and her parents had a good talk about things, and she told them she was going to hang out with Sanae for the evening. Fortunately, there was no curfew on the weekends until Sunday, so she was free to go.

Upon taking care of the dishes, she ran over to Sanae's house, and rang the bell. Sanae was waiting for her at the entrance.

"Come in," said Sanae as she ushered Athena into her house, into the living room, and had them both take a seat on the couch, "I found out that Kensou went out for the evening, he'll most likely be back around 9:30-ish or 10."

"Huh? How did you find that out?" asked Athena, curious how much Sanae knew.

"Simple, I called over there," affirmed Sanae, "Kensou gave me his number once in the past, I can't remember why though, but still, I looked for it, found it, dialed it, and some old man picked up, that's how I found out that he went out. So we got some time to prepare until then."

"Alright..." said Athena, "So how are we going to go about doing this?" she asked.

"Easy enough," said Sanae, "The only thing we need to do is head over there, hide for a bit, wait for Kensou to get home, and when he's inside, you go to the front and knock on the door."

"And? What do I do from there?" asked Athena.

"That, I'm afraid, will be up to you," affirmed Sanae again, "It was you who did the damage, now it's time to see if you can seek his forgiveness."

"So on other wards, pour my heart out?" asked Athena, this time with slight annoyance in her tone.

"Yes," said Sanae as she nodded, "Of course, I'll continue to hide to make sure things go OK, if things start going awry, I'll come out, and talk to him to help you out."

Athena smiled and sighed with relief, "Thank you Sanae, I knew I could count on you somehow."

"It's my pleasure," said Sanae with a smile, "It's the least I can do after flipping out on you like that a few days ago."

"No, you were right, I was so stupid then," said Athena, "I just hope Kensou can forgive me..." she added with a hint of worry in her tone.

"I'm sure he will," affirmed Sanae, "Come now, what guy doesn't like it when a girl pours her heart out to him, huh?"

"You do have a point," said Athena with a laugh.

Sanae's parents came down from upstairs a few minutes later, and found the girls playing video games, they thought nothing of it.

"Hey you two, we just wanted to let you know we're going out for a bit, we need to do some shopping." said Sanae's mom, "We'll see you two in a couple hours."

"OK mom, I'll see you then," said Sanae as she waved to her parents.

"Perfect," she whispered to Athena, "This means we can pull off Operation: Go For Broke without a hitch."

"Yeah," Athena whispered back as she looked at her watch, it was 8:30 PM "Let's just pray the next hour or so goes by uneventfully."

The two girls continued to play video games for that hour before Sanae looked up at the clock, she then stood up, and said, "It's time."

Athena knew what this meant, it was time for her to head over to Kensou's house, and hope that it all goes according to plan. She bundled up in her winter coat and shoes, and waited for Sanae.

"You ready?" asked Sanae.

"Yes," affirmed Athena, "Let's go."

With that, they were on their way, they walked about three blocks before taking a right, and walking halfway down the street, when they got to Kensou's house, they knocked, and after a minute, Chin answered the door.

"Oh, hey Athena," he said with a grin, "How can I help you? I see you got your friend with you too."

"Actually, we're looking for Kensou, is he home yet?" asked Sanae.

"No, he's not, he'll be home in a bit though," responded Chin.

"Alright, would you mind if we waited?" asked Athena.

"Oh not at all, come in," said Chin as he ushered the two of them inside the house.

The two followed Chin into the house, sat down, and were promptly offered some tea.

"Sure," they both said and Chin filled their small cups up.

The two drank the hot liquid quickly, somehow it made Athena feel rejuvenated. Upon looking further at the time, they realized they needed to get back outside in order for their plan to work.

"Hey Chin, we're gonna go out for a breather," said Athena as she and her friend ducked outside.

"Good work," said Sanae as they ran to the other side of the house where they could not be seen. Kensou got home around 9:50, Sanae went to check out what was going on, and saw him enter.

"Alright," she said to Athena, "It's almost time to put Operation: Go For Broke into action, give it your all."

At approximately 10:02 PM, Athena knocked on the door again, this time it was Kensou who answered, the look on his face said it all, he was surprised, shocked even, that Athena was standing in front of him.

"A-A-Athena?" asked Kensou in his moment of shock, he let it sink in for a couple, and promptly said, "Come in." he ushered her inside and shut the door.

"Kensou..." said Athena softly, she tried to bring herself to tell him how she felt, that she was sorry for what she did, but unfortunately, it felt like cement got in her throat, she thought she was gonna be sick.

"Obviously you didn't come here just to say hi," affirmed Kensou, "Is something up?"

"I-I..." finally, the words came, "Oh Kensou, I am sorry for what I did," she shouted as tears welled up in her eyes, "I was so scared, I didn't know what to do, I thought I was doing the right thing by breaking it up with you before it got serious, but I realized how wrong I was...Kensou I was a fool, a crazy goddamn fool...the truth of the matter is, I've fallen in love with you Kensou..." she broke down and cried, and felt ashamed for doing so in front of him.

Kensou, upon hearing Athena say what she said, instinctively wrapped his arms around her, and ran his hands gently down her back. He was shocked when she showed up, doubly so when she practically poured her heart out to him like that, and was letting him hold her in his arms.

"Athena..." he whispered softly, amazed by what she said.

"Yes Kensou?" she said with a sniffle.

"I...I love you...I always have...I always will," he said as he continued running his hands down her back.

"I love you too Kensou..." she said as she closed her eyes, "And I am so sorry..."

"Shhhh...Athena, let's go to my room and talk..." whispered Kensou.

"Alright, but first, I gotta go out for one second," said Athena softly with a smile as Kensou wiped the tears from her eyes.

Athena poked her head outside, and saw Sanae waiting, "Sanae! Operation: Go For Broke was a success!"

"Awesome!" shouted Sanae, "Hey, I'm gonna head home now, my parents might notice me missing, we'll talk about this tomorrow." she said as she headed back to her house.

"Alright, I'll see you later," said Athena as she waved to her friend.

Athena smiled as she went up to Kensou's room, where he was waiting for her on his bed. Finally, she was going to have a heart to heart with him, and perhaps undo the damage she wrought by foolishly dumping him the way she did. The sooner they talked about things with one another, the better. It was only right, she felt, that they do this...


	14. Heart to Heart

**Struggling With Feelings"**

**By:** Justin T. Melanson

_Author's Note: So Athena poured her heart out to Kensou, explaining why she felt she had to dump him. The result? A heart to heart talk is now in the works, they know that they love one another now, but what will become of it? This is the last chapter of this fanfic, I hope you all enjoyed. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own King of Fighters, or any of the characters involved in this fanfic, save for maybe Athena's mom and dad. All characters are the sole property and rights of SNK Playmore, Inc. _

Chapter 14: Heart to Heart

Athena made her way to the edge of Kensou's bed, and sat there with one leg on the floor, the other on his bed, and Kensou edged himself up so that way he could get a better view of her, and looked her in the eye, he was the first to speak. 

"Alright, so tell me? What were you afraid of Athena?" Kensou asked, curious about why she was scared. 

"I was afraid of what would happen if we broke up," said Athena, "I was scared that not only would I lose a relationship, I'd also lose my best friend too..." 

"Athena..." said Kensou softly, "I have something I must tell you. I too was afraid of what was gonna happen if things didn't work out between us...that I'd lose my best friend too, and the one girl I had loved ever since I laid eyes on her..." 

"Really?" asked Athena as she felt herself become more at ease, "I didn't know that." 

"There are a lot of things you don't know Athena," said Kensou, "Like that I decided to go for it anyway with you because I once heard an old quote from both Chin and Robert regarding love." 

"Oh? And what's that?" Athena asked again. 

"That it's better to have loved and lost, than not to have loved at all," said Kensou. 

Athena had heard that quote before, quite a few times in her life even. It didn't make much sense until now, she realized how true it was the moment Kensou uttered those words, she smiled as she moved entirely on to the bed, and closer to Kensou. 

"Thank you Kensou..." she said softly as she laid down next to him. 

"For what?" Kensou asked back. 

"For everything you have done, for forgiving me for being such a fool...and...for loving me even when I didn't return those feelings..." said Athena as she wrapped her right arm around him. 

"Athena, you didn't do anything wrong, you were afraid," said Kensou as he wrapped his arms around her, "And somehow I knew that someday you'd return the feelings dear, even if it took forever." 

Athena laughed softly, and relaxed. Somehow she didn't feel so scared anymore, now that she knew that Kensou had the same fears and worries, but still persevered regardless. She closed her eyes, and absorbed everything about him, not saying another word. 

Kensou was the first to break the silence when he whispered, "Athena..."

"Hmmm? What is it?" Athena opened her eyes, and looked at him. 

"Will you be my girl again?" asked Kensou. 

"Yes." said Athena without a second thought as she hugged him tightly. 

Not another word needed to be said between them, the struggling with their feelings inside was completely over. The only thing left to do now was tell their friends the good news. The two of them lay there in the moonlit, and dark room of Kensou's until Chin walked in and flipped the light on. 

"Well, what do we have here, hmm?" he asked. 

"Uhhh...well, funny you should ask Chin," said Kensou as he blushed. 

"No no, it's OK," said Chin, "I already know what's going on, congratulations you two, perhaps your union will make the Psycho Soldiers stronger than ever, hmm?" 

"Perhaps so," said Athena, "All I know is that this is the best thing to happen to me in a long, long time." she said with a smile. 

"Well, you both have my blessing," said Chin, "So long as it doesn't interfere with your studies." 

"We'll do our best not to let it do so," said Kensou affirmatively. 

"Well, good night you two, sweet dreams," said Chin as he flipped the light back off. 

Kensou and Athena looked at each other, and laughed. 

"Oh yeah, the Psycho Soldiers will be stronger than ever, that's for sure." said Kensou. 

"Yes, I'll be pushing you to work even harder now," said Athena as she moved closer to him. 

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it," said Kensou with a smile, "I'll gladly do this if it means being with you." 

The two of them shared a kiss, and talked for a while before they drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow, their new life began...but tonight, they shared their hearts' deepest secrets. Finally, it felt like the world was right after all that went wrong, there were probably going to be many trials ahead, but they were certain they could embrace these challenges. For now though, they just wanted to enjoy their time together, and live in the moment.


End file.
